Record #74Dated 28 October 1880 at 3:20 PM at the town hall in SciaraBefore the official appeared Paola Di Marco, 60, midwife, to declare that at 3:30 PM on the 27th of the current month at Via Grande, to Rosa Taormina, 40, farmer, wife of Antonino Serio, 48, farmer, residing in Sciara, was born a female child who she presented to the official and to whom was given the name MARIAWitnessing this act were Veronica D'Angelo, 40, and Vincenzo Velardi, 60.

The declarant declared the above birth as she was present at the birth and in place of the husband Antonino Serio, she made the announcement because he was far away in the country to find work in the province in Caltanissetta.

Although I am not as expert as others, I am fairly certain of my translation. Any words I am not sure about, I have (?) after to indicate as such. Donna

Record # 40 - Croce RandazzoDated 15 May 1882 Commune of Sciara presented to Giuseppe Randazzo, age 38, peasant farmer (villico), living in Sciara, at 6:00 on 15 May 1882, at Via LoCarso(?) Superiore 4, by his wife Anna Cattiglia, age 40, peasant farmer, who co-habitates with him, is born a male child who is named Croce.

Record #41 - Maria RandazzoDated 18 May 1882Commune of Sciarapresented to Rosolino, age 34, farmer (contadino) living in Sciara, at 8:20 on 18 May 1882, in Via Labace(?) 8, by his wife Enrichetta Sinatra, age 25, lady of the house, who co-habitates with him, is born a female child who is named Maria.

Witnessing this act are Paola DeMarco, age 61, midwife, and Eustachio LoBello, age 50, farmer.

[quote="dmt1955"]Although I am not as expert as others, I am fairly certain of my translation. Any words I am not sure about, I have (?) after to indicate as such. Donna

Record # 40 - Croce RandazzoDated 15 May 1882 Commune of Sciara presented to Giuseppe Randazzo, age 38, peasant farmer (villico), living in Sciara, at 6:00 on 15 May 1882, at Via LoCarso(?) Superiore 4, by his wife Anna Cattiglia, age 40, peasant farmer, who co-habitates with him, is born a male child who is named Croce.

Giuseppe Randazzo, the infant's father, was the informant and the person who presented the infant at the town hall. So the infant wasn't presented to him but was presented by him. The birth took place at 6 a.m. The address of the house was via La Corso Superiore #40.

The following info is based on some research I have done on these two occupations:

The villici were landless, poor peasants, who lived in crude dwellings with their families, outside of the village center, near the fields they tended. Once a year they would present themselves in the village piazza to seek a contract for the next growing season. Sometimes they would be granted the same plot of land to farm; at other times, a different one kilometers away, or even no plot at all. In the absence of supervision, the villici did nothing to improve the land. Their drive for sustenance forced these temporary laborers to exploit the land, sow on nearby plots which had been designated to remain fallow, and to emphasize quantity over quality.

Contadini were peasants, or inhabitants of the countryside, who farmed land which, for the most part, they did not own. Normally they worked as sharecroppers on rotating plots, on large estates, one year at a time and in rows of eight or ten, with one of them acting as a leader who would urge on the others through his words and example. Sometimes a peasant’s job involved reaping wheat. Although the work for these contadini, or peasants, involved long tedious hours which lasted from very early in the morning until very late at night, and was very strenuous, they would often sing in the fields while laboring. Their singing even took place during harvest time when they were harvesting the grapes or threshing the wheat.

gemellua wrote:Thank you very much erudita74 for the clarification of villici vs contadini.

Do you have any explanation concerning my question regarding Eurichetta?

I believe a "donna di casa," or "lady of the house" was a step above a contadina in that she did not work in the fields as did a contadina. The modern term for "donna di casa" is "casalingua" which translates as "housewife." So my understanding is that a "donna di casa" did work within the home but not out in the fields.

I hope you saw the corrections I made to Donna's translation of the record for Croce Randazzo.

Yes, I saw your corrections to Donna's translation. I all ready knew before postingthe link to Croce's record that his mother's surname was Castiglia and not Cattiglia.Very easy to make an error in translation since the hand writing for most of theserecords (at least in my opinion) are so difficult to make out. Just one mistake in aletter can result in a translate to come up with a completely ridiculous English translation or without one at all, so I really appreciate yours and Donna's help in my continued need to translate my Sicilian records.